Phencyclidine 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl piperidine), known as PCP was originally used as an anesthetic agent. PCP has become prevalent in the elicit drug market. It is often sold as "angel dust", "dust" or "super grass". The compound is a potent drug with lethal potential. and has become a major drug abuse problem. In 70 cases where PCP was deemed a factor in death, 90% of the cases had blood levels ranging from 10 to 300 ng/mL R. Budd and Y. Liu (1982). phencyclidine Concentration in Postmortem Body Fluids and Tissues. J. Toxicol. Clin Toxicol. 19(8):843-850!. PCP is extensively metabolized and about 10% is excreted unchanged in urine M. Wall, D. Brine, A. Jeffcoat et al. (1981). Phencyclidine Metabolism and Disposition in Man following 100 mcg Intravenous Dose. Res Comm. in Substances Abuse. 2:161-172!. The NIDA cut-off value requires at least 25 ng/mL before a measurement may be reported as positive. Thus it is desirable to have a simple and rapid technique for detecting the presence of PCP in body fluid such as blood plasma and urine. It is additionally desirable to prevent cross-reactivity to other drugs which may be present and have clinically similar symptoms. For this purpose, it is desirable to develop immunogenic conjugates of the phencyclidine hapten to elicit antibodies which provide the required degree of specificity while having high binding affinities and titer.
A radioimmunoassay for PCP is described by Kalir et al. (1976), Theriogenology 6, No. 2-3, 193. This assay employed .sup.3 H-labeled phencyclidine derivative as .sup.3 H-4--aminophenyl phencyclidine. The use of radioisotope is undesirable because of the waste generated from it. PCP derivative having a non-oxo carbonyl functionality linked directly or through a linking group out of the phenyl ring of PCP is described by C-I Lin, and P. Singh (1981), U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,065. This compound is used as the derivative for an enzyme immunoassay. Another PCP derivative having an oxime functionality linked out of the cyclohexane ring of the PCP molecule is described by C-I Lin, and P. Singh (1984), U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,065. This compound is employed as the derivative for an enzyme immunoassay. Still another compound having a carboxy functionality linked directly or through a linking group out of the phenyl ring of PCP is described by A. Focella (U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,185; 1980) and J. E. Heveran (J. Forensic Sciences, 25:79-87,1980). This compound and its derivatives are used in an immunoassay. Further compounds having an N-functionality fused to a piperidine ring of PCP are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,629 (1993), U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,457 (1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,834 (1995), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,212 (1992). All of these derivatives including tracers and immunogens described above are made from a ring-substituted phencyclidines all of which posses the core structure derived from phencyclidine itself, the structure of which is shown below ##STR2##